Seal in Utrecht canal could stay for up to a year, expert says

The seal that has been in the same Utrecht canal for the third consecutive day could stay there for another year. “Even then, there is no reason for concern, unless the animal’s health deteriorates, it begins to show significantly abnormal behavior, or becomes entangled,” said Sander van Dijk, head of education at the Pieterburen Seal Centre.

“If he behaves as a seal should, but inland, there is no reason for concern,” Van Dijk said. The animal was first spotted on Monday among the houseboats in the Merwedekanaal, near the Oog in Al neighborhood. By Wednesday, it was sunbathing on what appears to be its new permanent spot, a half-sunken inflatable boat or platform right next to a houseboat.

The stretch of water is popular for swimming and boating, but both Van Dijk and the municipality of Utrecht are urging people to keep their distance. “People are doing that well,” a municipal spokesperson noted. No barriers will be put in place, “because that would scare him away.”

If the animal appears next to someone in the water, Van Dijk said, there is no need to make a sudden retreat. “For this species, it would be very unusual for people to get close enough to touch him.” Van Dijk is therefore “less worried that it will happen, but I don’t recommend it.”

Seals can travel long distances, don’t need daylight to do so, and can disappear quickly and unnoticed by taking only short breaths, Van Dijk explained. In the meantime, the animal is “warmly welcome in Utrecht,” and the municipality says it will wait to see “what the seal decides for itself: whether it continues swimming, returns to the sea, or is hungry and goes for another fishing round.”

The municipality has asked people online to suggest a name for the seal. Among the options were Uutje, Jochie, “the most popular,” which is Utrecht dialect for “boy,” and Wijk C-hond, the spokesperson said. “But everyone is free to decide what to call him.”